History Recap / TheSimpsonsS3E11BurnsVerkaufenDerKraftwerk

** It is possible that Mr. Burns has Dementia, but the plant is also large enough that Mr. Burns can't possibility remember everybody.

** In real life, the German businessmen would be able to own the 2nd Cleveland Browns, reborn in 1999, after Art Modell moves the original team to Baltimore.

* AllGermansAreNazis / BewareTheNiceOnes: Partly subverted. For most of the episode the German businessmen are depicted as honest, friendly, workaholic people who want nothing but the best for their employees and the power plant. Even Lenny puts aside his initial prejudices. Only near the end the Germans get frightened when the safety levels of the power plant become dangerous and let Mr. Burns buy it back from them. When Burns pays them a low price, they naturally feel angry and warn Burns that "We Germans aren't all smiles ''und'' sunshine". As they say this, some sinister music starts playing.
** The Mexican Spanish dub [[{{Woolseyism}} changes]] the "We Germans aren't all smiles ''und'' sunshine" line with "Los alemanes no perdonamos nada" (We Germans do not ''forgive anything''), turning them into outright jerkasses and making the Nazi undertones more prominent.

* BilingualBonus:
** The title is (horribly mangled) German for "Burns Sells the Plant." For one thing, "Kraftwerk" ("factory," or in this sense, "plant") is a neuter noun, so it would need "das" (which is a neuter definite article) instead of "der" (which is used for masculine nouns). For another, "verkaufen" (the infinitive) is used instead of "verkauft" (which is the third-person conjugation). The correct German title of this episode would be "Burns verkauft das Kraftwerk." On the DVDCommentary, the writers simply give up and refer to it as [[TheOneWith "The German Episode."]]
** Mr. Burns' German during the dinner with the German businessmen is correct, even if it has a few grammatical errors. On the other hand, the Mexican Spanish dub replaced Burns and the other Germans' speech with German-sounding gibberish, as neither one of the voice actors spoke German.

* GratuitousGerman: Naturally a lot, since German industrials buy the power plant. Even Smithers tries to learn German.

** The Mexican Spanish dub [[{{Woolseyism}} changes]] the "We Germans aren't all smiles ''und'' sunshine" line with ''Los alemanes no perdonamos nada'' (We Germans do not ''forgive anything''), turning them into outright jerkasses and making the Nazi undertones more prominent.

* BilingualBonus: The title is (horribly mangled) German for "Burns Sells the Plant." For one thing, "Kraftwerk" ("factory," or in this sense, "plant") is a neuter noun, so it would need "das" (which is a neuter definite article) instead of "der" (which is used for masculine nouns). For another, "verkaufen" (the infinitive) is used instead of "verkauft" (which is the third-person conjugation). The correct German title of this episode would be "Burns verkauft das Kraftwerk." On the DVDCommentary, the writers simply give up and refer to it as [[TheOneWith "The German Episode."]]

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: One of the Germans asked Homer if they could talk, Homer said no. But the German thought maybe Homer didn't understand him, so he tries to make himself clearer until Homer screams [[BigNo "NOOO!!"]].

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: It's weird to see Burns hoot and holler for joy at the price the Germans give him for his plant, given that his wealth has reached Scrooge [=McDuck=] levels of ridiculousness over the years.

* HypocriticalHumor: Moe is infuriated by the prank calls he receives and always vows revenge, but he finds the idea of Bart doing that to others hilarious.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The music that plays during Homer's Land of Chocolate fantasy sounds nearly like "Captain of Industry" from ''Film/TuckerTheManAndHisDream''.

* AllGermansAreNazis / BewareTheNiceOnes: Partly subverted. For most of the episode the German businessmen are depicted as honest, friendly, workaholic people who want nothing but the best for their employees and the power plant. Even Lenny puts aside his initial prejudices. Only near the end the Germans get frightened when the safety levels of the power plant become dangerous and let Mr. Burns buy it back from them. When Burns pays them a low price, they naturally feel angry and warn Burns that "We Germans aren't all smiles ''und'' sunshine". As they say this sinister music starts playing.

* PerpetualPoverty: The state of the Simpsons' life gets worse once Homer loses his job, leading to compromises like Lisa having to do Marge's BeehiveHairdo (making it look more like a pair of bunny ears in the process) and Bart refusing to take baths and reading comics without actually buying them.

* BilingualBonus: The title is (horribly mangled) German for "Burns Sells the Plant." For one thing, "Kraftwerk" ("factory," or in this sense, "plant") is a neuter noun, so it would need "das" (which is a neuter definite article) instead of "der" (which is used for masculine nouns). For another, "verkaufen" (the infinitive) is used instead of "verkauft" (which is the third-person conjugation). The correct German title of this episode would be "Burns verkauft das Kraftwerk." On TheDVDCommentary, the writers simply give up and refer to it as [[TheOneWith "The German Episode."]]

* BilingualBonus: The title is (horribly mangled) German for "Burns Sells the Plant." For one thing, "Kraftwerk" ("factory," or in this sense, "plant") is a neuter noun, so it would need "das" (which is a neuter definite article) instead of "der" (which is used for masculine nouns). For another, "verkaufen" (the infinitive) is used instead of "verkauft" (which is the third-person conjugation). The correct German title of this episode would be "Burns verkauft das Kraftwerk."

* TakeThat: When Homer originally leaks Burns' asking price ([[spoiler: $100 million]]) to the German businessmen, they observe that "[they]'ll still have enough left to buy the UsefulNotes/{{Cleveland}} Browns."

-->'''Bart:''' Excuse me. I'm looking for-
-->'''Moe:''' (ominously) Wait a minute. I know that voice.
-->'''Bart:''' [[OhCrap (Gulp)]]
-->'''Moe:''' (cheerfully) If it isn't little Bart Simpson! I haven't seen you in years!

-->'''Homer''': Let me ask you something, does your money make you happy?
-->'''Mr. Burns''': Yes.
-->'''Homer''': Okay, bad example.

--> '''Horst''': Then you must have some plans for the future as well?\\
'''Homer''': I sure do!\\
(really long pause)\\
'''Hans''': ...Such as?

* HiddenDepths: Mr. Burns is revealed to be fluent in German (though some of what he says wouldn't be considered correct if you're a native German speaker). This becomes FridgeHorror when, in a later episode, he reveals that he's a lot like Oskar Schindler (of ''Schindler's List'' fame) in that he made artillery shells for the Nazis (with the only difference being that Burns' shells actually worked, damnit!).

** Mayor Quimby welcomes the new German bosses with the phrase: "Ich bin ein Springfielder", which is a reference to UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy's famous quote: "Ich bin ein Berliner".

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Homer repeatedly screws him and his family out of fortune and eventually ends up jobless and bankrupt.

* NeverMyFault: Homer grumbles about losing his job, insisting the Germans have no right to declare him unsafe....while rummaging a fork inside a toaster...connected to an overloaded mains.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The German investors were supposed to be Japanese ones, but the writers thought that [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld reflected reality at the time a bit too much]] (plus, they would have been branded as cliched if they did do it). Though the German wearing glasses appears Asian.
** The "Fudgetown" sign in the "Land of Chocolate" sequence was originally supposed to read, "Hershey Highway," but the censors immediately knew what it was referring to, and asked the writers to change it.

** The Mexican Spanish dub [[{{Woolseyism}} changes]] the "We Germans aren't all smiles ''und'' sunshine" line with ''Los alemanes no perdonamos nada'' (We Germans does not ''forgive anything''), turning them into outright jerkasses.

** Mr. Burns' German during the dinner with the German businessmen is correct, even if it has a few grammatical errors. On the other hand, the Mexican Spanish dub replaced Burns and the other Germans's speech with German-sounding gibberish, as neither one of the voice actors spoke German.

* HiddenDepths: Mr. Burns is revealed to be fluent in German (though some of what he says wouldn't be considered correct if you're a native German speaker). This becomes FridgeHorror when, in a later episode, he reveals that he's a lot like Oskar Schindler (of ''Schindler's List'' fame) in that he made artillery shells for the Nazis (with the only difference being that Burns' shells actually worked).

** Mayor Quimby welcomes the new German bosses with the phrase: "Ich bin ein Springfielder", which is a reference to JohnFKennedy's famous quote: "Ich bin ein Berliner".

** One of the Germans (drawn to resemble John Banner) relaxes the workers by telling them to think of him as the lovable [[HogansHeroes Sgt Shultz]] from ''Hogan's Heroes''.